The invention relates to a pack for a group of articles, in particular individual packs, comprising a base wall, lateral longitudinal walls, lateral transverse walls and upright corner supports which project beyond the longitudinal walls and transverse wallsxe2x80x94a so-called tray pack. The invention also relates to a process and apparatus for producing and filling such packs.
Tray packs are usually pack containers which are open at the top and comprise a base wall and side walls, namely longitudinal walls and transverse walls, which are lower than the articles which are to be packed. In the present case, the tray pack is designed such that, in the region of the (four) pack corners, upright corner supports are formed by the longitudinal walls and transverse walls, said corner supports being considerably higher than the longitudinal walls and transverse walls. The corner supports, which extend around the corner and are thus angled in cross section, provide the pack contents with additional support. A tray pack designed in this way is intended, in particular, for receiving cuboidal individual packs.
A special feature of tray packs is that the outlay on material, namely paperboard or corrugated paperboard, is comparatively low.
The object of the invention is to reduce the outlay on material further by virtue of an appropriate configuration of the pack and without reducing the functionality or the dimensional stability of the pack.
In order to achieve this object, the pack according to the invention is characterized in that the base wall is formed from base tabsxe2x80x94longitudinal tabs and transverse tabsxe2x80x94which are connected to the associated longitudinal walls and transverse walls and the dimensions of which are smaller than or equal to recesses which are formed between adjacent corner supports.
The design of the pack with (low) longitudinal walls and transverse walls, on the one hand, and higher corner supports, on the other hand, results in upwardly open recesses, in the region of the longitudinal walls and transverse walls, which are bounded laterally by the corner supports. The base tabs are designed such that they are preferably of precisely the same shape and size as these recesses. This makes it possible for the blanks for the pack designed in this way to be produced in a waste-free manner from a continuous material web made of preferably stiff packaging material.
The blanks for a pack within the context of the invention may be designed such that the partially overlapping base tabs produce a closed base wall. Alternatively, that is to say in the case of a configuration of the blank for maximum savings in terms of materials, the base wall is provided with openings or recesses on account of the base tabs being of smaller dimensions. However, said openings and recesses are smaller or narrower than the individual packs or articles which are to be set down on the base wall.
A further special feature is the production and filling of such or similar (tray) packs which are open at the top. According to the invention, the procedure is thus such that the pack is transported with the open base wall, that is to say non-folded base tabs, oriented upwards and the pack contents are introduced into the pack via the base wall. Thereafter, the base tabs are folded in a favorable sequence. Following completion of the base wall, the complete, filled pack is turned through 180xc2x0, with the result that the base wall is directed downwards. An apparatus of suitable design is provided for carrying out the process.